In June 2001, the International Institute for Educational Planning convened a policy forum on the organization, functioning, and effectiveness of national ministries of education. This book presents eight key papers from that forum. The forum discussed how differences in organizational structures and mechanisms affect adjustability and effectiveness of educational policies and their implementation process. The forum also attempted to compare and draw lessons from a selected number of experiences in which the absence or presence of sound political leadership and adequate links with stakeholders at all levels of the system have played a major role in the success or failure of educational reform. The discussions, and the papers in the book, were arranged around four major points: (1) steering from above: the link between political leadership and administration; (2) steering from below: the ministry's interaction with the operational level (schools, teachers, students, etc.); (3) steering from outside: the relationship between the ministry and the main stakeholders outside the system (teachers' unions, parents' associations, mass media, etc.); and (4) steering from within: the ministry's internal organizational structures and regulating mechanisms. (Author/WFA)